LETTER FROM WASHINGTON

Writer analyses the New Hampshire primary which took place on Tuesday, Feb. 24. Results in primaries are often ambiguous. In N.H. Ronald Reagan very nearly tied Gerald Ford, but in the voting for delegates to the Republican National Convention 19 pledged to Ford were elected, as against 2 for Reagan, & it will be the delegates, not the voters, who speak for N.H. in Aug. Many observers believe that Humphrey, who got a write-in vote of 6% will end up heading the Democratic ticket in July. Analysis of the Ford & Reagan vote. Democrat Jimmy Carter's strong showing (he got the majority of the votes) is being held as a victory for conservatism, and in a sense it is, but the four liberals: Udall, Bayh, Harris & Shriver shared 60% of the vote (or 66 if Humphrey's write-in is added) to Carter's 30. In N.H. there is now a law providing that no matter what date any other state sets for its primary, N.H.'s will be a week earlier. It has been moved back almost a month since 1968.